Ocean County freeholders to spend $15.5M to purchase Forked River Mountains in Lacey

The longest-serving freeholder in New Jersey, who is in failing health, has decided to end his campaign for re-election this November. John Bartlett will retire from public life when his 13th term expires on Dec. 31, 2018.
Erik Larsen

The view from the top of one of the Forked River Mountains in Lacey.(Photo11: Courtesy of the New Jersey Maritime Museum)

LACEY - Ocean County plans to spend about $15.5 million to purchase 7,860 acres of Pine Barrens that include the Forked River Mountains, Freeholder Director Gerry P. Little announced Wednesday.

The site, which straddles the municipal boundaries of Lacey and Waretown, has long been private property owned by the Brunetti family of Old Bridge — who, as the proprietors of the Joseph J Brunetti Construction Co., had once used a small portion of the tract for hardwood cutting. John J. Brunetti is the current landholder.

Once the county government acquires the land, which constitutes 6,258 acres in Lacey and 1,602 acres in Waretown, from revenue collected through its open space tax, the site will be preserved in its pristine state and opened to the public for passive recreational use such as hiking and bird watching, Little said.

The two peaks of the “mountains” — East Mountain and Blue Hill — are actually not mountains in the true sense of the word. They are a pair of adjacent sand and gravel hills that form a ridgeline between the Cedar Creek and Forked River watersheds, according to the Forked River Mountain Coalition, which serves as an advocacy organization for the conservation of the site.

The larger of the two hills, East Mountain, rises 184 feet above sea level, while Blue Hill is 176 feet above sea level. From its top, visitors can see the historic landmarks of Barnegat Lighthouse to the east and Hangar No. 1 at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst to the north.

In a presentation to the Board of Freeholders during its caucus meeting on Wednesday, Ocean County Planning Director Anthony M. Agliata emphasized the aesthetics that the public will enjoy.

“The biggest part about this property is obviously some of the elevation and also the views,” Agliata said. “There’s about 50,000 acres of (existing) preserved land surrounding the designated area, which again is quite significant now that we add about 8,000 acres and put it in the center.”

He also noted a history component to the parcel: The site includes a section of the old railbed for the Tuckerton Railroad, which provided train service between the Whiting section of Manchester and Tuckerton from 1871 to 1935.

Buy Photo

A partial view of an 1872 map of Ocean County shows the location of the Forked River Mountains and the Tuckerton Railroad.(Photo11: Asbury Park Press archives)

The streams that run through the parcel include Oyster Creek and the three branches of the Forked River.

“This is really one of the most significant tracts that we’ve acquired not only in terms of its scope, its size, but because of the endangered species, the endangered habitats and the watershed — all of those freshwater streams flow in there,” Little said. “So, it’s really one of the neatest and the most pristine areas that we’ve looked at for our program since its beginning.”

To be sure, this acquisition would be the largest tract and one of the most environmentally sensitive to be purchased by the county since voters approved a 1.2-cent dedicated tax to establish the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust Program in 1997, Little said.

Amid the astounding views, the Forked River Mountains are home to such animals as the white-tailed deer, gray fox and beaver. Threatened and endangered species are also found in its thick pine, lowland forest: The pine snake, timber rattlesnake and Pine Barrens tree frog.

The vegetation includes Atlantic white cedar, sour gum and red maple, which grow along the streams. Threatened and endangered plant species are also on the land such as the New Jersey rush, bog asphodel and swamp pink, all according to the Forked River Mountain Coalition.

The bipartisan Ocean County Natural Lands Trust Fund Advisory Committee had made a formal recommendation for the purchase to the Board of Freeholders, which is empowered to approve or reject the committee’s findings.

A map from the Ocean County Department of Planning showing the proposed Forked River Mountain acquisition in brown.(Photo11: Courtesy Ocean County Department of Planning)

A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Ocean County Administration Building on Hooper Avenue in Toms River, when the freeholder board next meets in regular session. Little announced the planned purchase at this week’s caucus meeting of the board.

The tract is part of the committee’s “century plan,” and is the last significant swath to be protected in the Pinelands between Lacey, Waretown and Barnegat — that in total would become part a combined preserve of 21,000 acres or 33 square miles in size, Little said.

“This property is in a very environmentally sensitive and unique area of the county,” said Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. in a written statement. “It is surrounded by thousands of acres of state, county and nonprofit preserved land.”

Bartlett, who is unable to attend meetings as he undergoes cancer treatment, has served as liaison to the county’s open space program since its inception.

Watch Bartlett announce his retirement from the board in the video above.

“It meets the many requirements of our open space program and ensures this property will never be considered for anything but open space,” Bartlett said in the statement. “This purchase protects our watershed, it protects our endangered species. Its benefits are numerous.”

Choreographer Theresa Stone shows a move to her dancers as they prepare for show. Dancers practice their moves as they prepare for the Dead Manâ€™s Party show that is part of Fright Night at Six Flags Great Adventure. Peter Ackerman

Choreographer Theresa Stone shows a move to her dancers as they prepare for show. Dancers practice their moves as they prepare for the Dead Manâ€™s Party show that is part of Fright Night at Six Flags Great Adventure. Peter Ackerman

Choreographer Theresa Stone shows a move to her dancers as they prepare for show. Dancers practice their moves as they prepare for the Dead Manâ€™s Party show that is part of Fright Night at Six Flags Great Adventure. Peter Ackerman